Strigol Empire
The Strigol Empire are an intergalactic race of vampiric humanoid creatures that have now allied themselves with the Conjugal Consortium. are a distant cousin of humanity, split off from them many millennia ago after a freak mutation in genetics, resulting in the hunger for blood and psionic energy. The Strigol then grew massively as a species, originally living cocooned in subterranean hovels beneath planets like bats until they built up gigantic invasion forces and released themselves, resulting in the Ignition Massacres, the first discovery of the Strigol as a formidable opponent in the galactic battlefield. They require blood of any type to sustain themselves and can be fueled massively by feeding on psionic energy, something a very select amount of Strigol can accomplish and requires years of training but it serves as a much more powerful and long-lasting fuel source than blood could ever be. The original bloodline and the first founding noble house being House Faust, dating back to the first ever Strigol, thousands of years ago. The de facto ruler of the Strigol Empire now being Alkaline Faust, the Arch-King and the most powerful Strigol currently living, being over seven thousand years old and having been in the position of Arch-King for two thousand of those years. Culture the Strigol Empire is divided into several noble houses, each one being lead by a person of noble blood and having their own lands and territories with which they do whatever they please. Organization Each Coven functions as it's own independent unit, having their own supplies and faculties. Notable Strigol Houses Types of Houses * Noble House - The most common and widespread kind of house, featuring the bulk of Strigolian aristocracy and pure-blood civilians and knights. 75% of all houses are of this nature. * Progenitor House - A house which has roots in the very first, fledgling members of the empire and are of the purest kinds of Strigolian, they are viewed as the most prestigious and of the highest class of people. * Knight House - A kind of house not bound by loyalty but by skill in combat, closer to armies than noble fraternities, these houses specialise in the production of warriors to fight for the other hoses. As a result, they keep a far greater number of Strigolians to provide for those houses that request and pay the price of their service.Once a knight transfers from their parent house into a noble house, their family name is abandoned and it is changed to that of their patron house in a show of solidarity and faith. * Transmutation House - the rarest kind of Strigolian nobility consisting of nobles with a genetic mutation that allows them to inject blood into non-Strigolian beings and turn them into those of the Strigol empire, giving them a reliance on blood and psionic energy to live but also giving them the physical enhancements and attributes that are common for them. These houses are usually the smallest in terms of pure-bloods but keep the largest non-pure auxiliary forces, be they Blood Bankers or knights. Turncoats The Turncoats are a renegade faction of the Strigol Empire that have chosen to abandon nobility and it's corruption to live a more independent life free of royal regulations, standards and successions. These people are not illegal in the Strigol Empire but they are looked down upon by the majority of the nobles in noble families. In the deepest of secrecy, some houses call upon the skills of the Turncoats for a certain price, those who have been uncovered for such behaviour have been imprisoned or had their reputations brought as low as the Turncoats themselves, usually becoming them shortly after. None are more vile to Strigolian Nobility out of these traitors than Dante Crowe, him being the first house to fall, Lord of House Vincent, Dante Crowe was a kind and gentle man, far more than the others and after being embroiled in several crimes of blackmailing to hide corruption done by several noble houses and Dante could not take it any longer, he defected from Nobility and began his own faction, his fellow house members completely supported his decision once he had explained it to them and other noble houses soon defected with similar issues with the current system. More and more noble houses are turning traitor and becoming a Turncoat however it still remains that the largest crew is the old House Vincent, now renamed The Black Rose Union. Vendettas A Vendetta being a large scale conflict enacted against a certain planet, selection of planets or system. Different to a war, a Vendetta has several rules dictating it's restrictions and laws. The loss of infrastructure, economy, government and society of each planet must be reconstructed. A Vendetta must occur on planets that evidently experiencing corruption on the part of the nobility, a Vendetta must rid them of control with as little casualties possible. If a vendetta is successful, then the planets must be reconstructed and rebuilt with the help of the Turncoat band. if a Turncoat Band breaks and abandons, they will receive severe repercussions from the neighbouring bands, including a civil war between bands, reduction of resources or theft of ships or orbital stations and even assassinations of Band Commanders. Vendettas are usually named after the planet or system they occur in and can last anywhere from 1 year to 10 or even longer in some rare cases. A vendetta is a term used to describe the collection of soldiers, diplomats, medical and building personnel that is assembled to liberate a system.